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State agency: San Angelo day care 'in compliance' after alleged child abuse

SAN ANGELO — More than a month after it was blasted in a social media firestorm stemming from allegations of child abuse, a San Angelo day care has passed a state inspection that ruled the operation is "in compliance" in the supervision of its children.

On July 23, the San Angelo Early Childhood Center on Julian Street was found not to have violated the state's minimum standard rules after an investigation by a division of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.

The investigation was prompted after a 3-year-old's wrist was dislocated July 16, 2018.

Incident at San Angelo day care reported

Angela Soto said her 3-year-old granddaughter Jleigh was crying when her father picked her up from day care in July.

Jleigh's teacher told her father Jleigh hit another child and was sent to timeout for refusing to apologize. Jleigh refused to go and "threw herself on the floor (and) landed on her bottom and hands," according to an incident report the school gave the family. Later in the evening it was found she had a dislocated wrist.

A doctor at Community Medical Center came to a different conclusion after performing an X-ray.

"He said that is flat out not true," Soto said. "That could not possibly have happened. ... She had to have been lifted by her arms, her wrist, or her forearm. Somewhere in there she was lifted by the arm."

Soto shared the story on Facebook.

Soto said she was not interested in seeking official recourse with law enforcement regarding the incident with her granddaughter but wanted other parents to be aware of her experience.

"As a family, we are happy this situation concerning our granddaughter has come to light and thankful for all the kind words of concern," Soto said in a message to the Standard-Times on Tuesday.

Cynthia Lackey, director of San Angelo Early Childhood Center, said the day care center reported Soto's complaint to the regional child care licensing office, which began its investigation July 23.

"Any time we have a serious injury requiring a visit to the doctor or emergency room or any incident where we have a concern about meeting minimum standards we immediately call the Regional Office and report the incident," Lackey wrote in an email. "We provide them with a narrative (of) what happened during the incident, a copy of our schedule, copies of teacher training including first-aid and CPR, and any reports we have received from the parents relating to the medical diagnosis."

On July 23, inspectors visited the center to investigate the alleged abuse as well as examine the facility for other shortcomings.

Inspectors "sometimes notice other potential minimum standards deficiencies while on site. If we see that the operation is not in compliance ... then we would cite a deficiency," said Kelli Weldon, a press officer for the Texas Health & Human Services Commission.

Lackey was adamant inspectors did a thorough job reviewing the day care.

"Staff were interviewed, as well as children and other parents who would have knowledge of that incident," Lackey said.

After it evaluated "applicable administrative rules, minimum standard rules, and other laws," the Child Care Licensing division concluded the day care was in compliance, according to a letter Lackey received from the Health and Human Services Commission regarding its investigation.

According to the database the Texas Health and Human Services makes publicly available, the day care had three violations in the past three years for allowing staff contact with children before background checks were completed and leaving a child unattended in a classroom.

All three violations were listed as corrected within days, according to the the database.

Future improvements to the day care center could aid investigations of abuse

At the time of the Jleigh's injury in July, no cameras were available to record what happened. Lackey said that will change with planned improvements to the center.

"Our board has saved for three to four years to update the facilities," Lackey said. "Improvements will be made to the restrooms and the classrooms for older children, and we're painting the outside trim and tinting the windows. We're also installing a new security system, which will include cameras in all of the classrooms."

Lackey said the cameras could help when concerns about childcare arise.

"With cameras, we could've pulled up the incident in question," Lackey said. "We'll have 21 days of recordings saved. We'll be able to pull up any incident and see what happened."

The new security system also will include biometric scanners, Lackey said. "Only those authorized to pick up children can enter the building."

Lackey said the cameras will be operational in two weeks, with improvements to the day care center completed tentatively by the end of October.

How to report suspected child abuse in Texas

To report suspected abuse at a day care center, call the Texas Abuse Hotline at 1-800-252-5400 or 911 for emergency situations. For non-emergency situations, submit a report at www.TXAbuseHotline.org.